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Try to avoid thinking that it's all about the kite and you must have the lightest kite ever. If you practice enough, you'll find that you can easily fly a sorts of kites in light winds. I was the kid in school that got picked last for team sport activities. The four foot one inch chick that weighed 200 pounds got picked before I did. That's how pathetic I am at anything physical. AND I CAN FLY IN LIGHT WIND NO PROBLEM.

Flying at an angle, say 45 degrees upwards is using less wind then flying straight up. You can get away with less winds.

Ladder climbing, can keep you in the air, just fly left to right or the other way, turn up, fly to the side, turn up, and fly back etc. This is a move to keep you in the air without much movement, for example to get through lulls or when you are nearing the end of your flying space. Or just to catch your breath.

If you have the room, downward turns will need less wind then upwards turn, make use of it.

Assists your kite with body movement, backwards when flying upwards move towards the kite when flying downwards, how much depends on the kite and wind. When the kite is right at the lower range of its capability, just swinging your upper body back in the upward part of a loop and swinging forward during the downward part can make all the difference.

360s are a great way to recover lost ground, if you moved to far back.

Be mindful of not losing to much ground, try to find a balance in your flying to stay in the same general area. If you have to keep backing up all the time, its time for a lighter kite, or go grab some drinks instead. Because you will exhaust yourself quickly.

Use finger straps. It's all about feeling the light pressure on the lines. You will determine by feel the minimal pressure to keep your kite flying, and then adjust your forward and backward movements accordingly. You will be amazed at how little pressure you will need to keep the kite barely moving. When the wind is really light, very smooth pressure changes on the line is what counts. You donít want to blow the lift off of the sail. Fly the kite through the turns. In a turn, you are reducing the lifting area of the sail that faces the light wind, which temporarily increases the sail loading, which in turn requires more forward speed to keep the kite flying. The sharper the turn, the less sail area facing the light wind, the higher the temporary sail loading, the more forward speed will be needed. So just increase the pressure on the lines to keep the kite moving through the turn, then carefully complete the turn and keep the kite moving in the desired direction.

Pockets of light wind and movements in wind direction may not be what you would expect. Under these light wind conditions, the changes in wind direction will be the result of differential heating of the flying area and adjacent land and/or water. On a sunny day, our flying fields usually generate thermals. When the wind dies and the air temperature increases, a thermal is beginning to form on the field. When the thermal breaks loose, you will feel the temperature drop slightly indicating a cool light breeze is moving in the direction of the thermal. If the air contains enough moisture, the water will condense from the thermal and form a cumulus cloud. The cumulus clouds form is cycles and make little cloud highways in the sky. Have you been to a park with flags around the field on a sunny summer day with no/low wind, and then see for a moment the flags start to move and all facing a different direction? That because the flags are pointing in the direction of the thermal that just broke free, and the thermal is being feed by the adjacent air.

Just fly your kite in the direction of the cool light breeze and enjoy the ride. On a normal summer day, the cycle happens about every 10 to 15 minutes. Sometimes the light breeze is just above the ground where the air is feeding a thermal and other times its right above your head in the thermal. If your day at the field has only thermal activity for wind, you will get about 5 minutes of crazy air to fly in, and then you will have to wait for 5 to 10 minutes for the next thermal to build and break free.

In my life prior to flying stunt and single line kites, I chased thermals with RC Sailplanes. On these light wind days, chasing and riding thermals is a blast with a single line glider kite!

Low wind flying ? Some of my favorite conditions ! I had the video camera with me a couple weeks ago, with the hopes of getting some VF footage, but the wind just wasn't there. What I did capture might be of some help for those that would like a visual of what it's like to fly in REALLY low wind. The wind in this entire clip is less than 1 mph. Not really wind for a tricky SUL, but a true SUL like the Skyburner ProDancer ? Not a problem ! Even my Prism Ozone would've required a lot more footwork than the PD. I really could've been using longer lines, I think these were my 65' foot 90# set, with the Norm 2 finger straps. Like was mentioned above, the finger straps help a lot. Norm makes the best straps I've ever used !A couple of things about the video... if you're looking for tricks, I can't get the PD to do any... I think it needs to be adjusted. The wide angle makes everything look funky, too.I just hope to share how I keep the kite in the air when the wind isn't there, it may not be right, but it works for me...

Best advice I got was from Steve Hall, in low winds your window is more vertical then horizontal. Flying too far to the side will get you in trouble, you need to keep in the center, your window is pretty narrow.

At the same time though, around here we need to keep searching those sides since the wind is always shifting. It's direction is most often changing all the time and if it's really light you don't feel it. Even if it's still the same direction you often find you've got more pressure just to the right or left. We are dealing constantly with "Rotors" as Ted calls them.

Already mentioned "Move", I call it the three step, three steps back as you gain altitude and three steps forward as you descend. No hurry, no need to break a sweat, a good UL or SUL will fly with a slow step back especially if there is already some air movement. The steps forward are to keep from backing into the fence, trees, roads, parking lot, whatever defines your boundaries.

Also already mentioned, smooth movements, constant tension on the lines except during a trick, then get the kite powered back up as soon as possible. The biggest problem I have is when I end up on the ground, you loose a lot of field during recoveries, field that in real low wind is hard to get back short of running a 360 or dragging the kite back downwind.

A good low wind flyer never seems to move from their spot, Steve could stand his ground all day with his Tricktail UL's

Logged

"Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see" John W Lennon

"People do not quit playing because they grow old, they grow old because they quit playing" George Bernard Shaw

Low wind flying ? Some of my favorite conditions ! I had the video camera with me a couple weeks ago, with the hopes of getting some VF footage, but the wind just wasn't there. What I did capture might be of some help for those that would like a visual of what it's like to fly in REALLY low wind. The wind in this entire clip is less than 1 mph. Not really wind for a tricky SUL, but a true SUL like the Skyburner ProDancer ? Not a problem ! Even my Prism Ozone would've required a lot more footwork than the PD. I really could've been using longer lines, I think these were my 65' foot 90# set, with the Norm 2 finger straps. Like was mentioned above, the finger straps help a lot. Norm makes the best straps I've ever used !A couple of things about the video... if you're looking for tricks, I can't get the PD to do any... I think it needs to be adjusted. The wide angle makes everything look funky, too.I just hope to share how I keep the kite in the air when the wind isn't there, it may not be right, but it works for me...

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